Rusialka waved her crystal wand three times and said: “I can see a walled-in garden in a distant land. A bell is ringing for vespers, and all the nuns with downcast eyes hasten across a cloister to the chapel door. The youngest of them all sees a bed of snowdrops lift their white heads and she smiles, because they are an emblem of hope, and a symbol of her life.”
PERIWINKLE
The Snowdrop curtsied, and stepped aside to make room for the Violet.
CARNATION
She peeped out shyly from under a bunch of leaves and a sweet perfume filled the air.
“Violets for faithfulness,” she said, turning to the Yellow Jasmine, “I comfort friends who are parted. What pictures do you see for me, Lady Rusialka?”
Rusialka waved her crystal wand and said:
“Call up your bright sisters who bring both joy and hope, and stand before me.”